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“Before you accept the responsibility of being captain for Liverpool Football Club you’ve got to tell yourself: ‘There will be good days and bad days.’

“On good days you’ll feel on top of the world. On bad days you’ll feel sad and lonely. If you can’t handle the low days, when the s*** hits the fan and everyone’s out to get you, if you can’t handle those days mentally, don’t take the job.

“Every single day, even when I wasn’t playing badly, I felt that pressure. But I loved it, even on bad days. When we’d had a bad game or if I’d played badly, I used to tell myself: ‘I’m the captain. I need to put this right, and I’ll have another chance to do that in three or four days.’

“I dreamed about wearing the captain’s armband from when I was about 10. So when I got it, I wanted to enjoy it, even on bad days.”

Ragnhild Lund Ansnes, author of new book 'Liverpool Captains', with former Reds skippers Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher

Gerrard says he learned a great deal from Jamie Redknapp and Robbie Fowler, who captained the Reds when the Huyton-born midfielder was establishing himself at Anfield.

“Redknapp was my hero. I love him as a guy and I loved him as a player. He went out of his way to help me,” Gerrard said.

“I was 16 and an apprentice on £47 a week. And he was a national star who played for England and LFC and was vice-captain under Paul Ince.

“Every day he’d call me over and check on me if I was all right, if I had the football boots and the equipment that I needed. And he’d tell me where he was off to after training and ask me to join him. He didn’t have to do that.

Ragnhild Lund Ansnes, author of new book 'Liverpool Captains', has written a book featuring former Reds skipper Steven Gerrard

“When someone behaves like that to you at 16, it does something important to you. So when I was 26 and I was captain, I’d treat younger players the way Jamie had.

“He wasn’t just a top player, he was also a top guy who’d go out of his way to help – not just me, just many of my friends at that time. He looked after us and protected us. Jamie showed great leadership.

“I think Robbie was made captain because of who he was: an icon in the dressing room, and possibly the best striker in England at that time.

“We had a natural respect for Robbie. He was a bubbly character in the dressing room, very easy to like, and he got along well with every single player.

“He didn’t talk much. But when he did, we listened. He wasn’t a very vocal or aggressive captain, but what he said made good sense. He led by example.”

Ragnhild Lund Ansnes, author of new book 'Liverpool Captains', has written a book featuring former Reds skipper Steven Gerrard

Gerrard is one of 16 former skippers who have been interviewed for ‘Liverpool Captains’.

Norwegian author Lund Ansnes spent three years travelling across Europe, speaking to some of the biggest names in the club’s history and analysing how the role of the captaincy has changed over the past half-a-century.

There are moving chapters with Ron Yeats and Tommy Smith, who both suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease, about the sacrifices they made for the Reds. Former team-mates Ian St John and Chris Lawler help to tell their stories.

Phil Thompson speaks about losing the captaincy to Graeme Souness in 1982 and how the anger drove him on.

“I improved my game overnight to show Bob Paisley he’d made a mistake giving Souness the captaincy,” Thompson said.

Ragnhild Lund Ansnes, author of new book 'Liverpool Captains', has written a book featuring former Reds skipper Graeme Souness

“In fact this was leadership at its best. Making tough decisions for the best of the collective and the club. And you know what, when I had time to think about it, I realised he was right.”

Phil Neal recounts the horror of being Liverpool captain at Heysel in 1985: “I just wanted to dig a hole in the ground and not come out for six months. It hurt so badly.”